FWF funding advances immune cell and imaging research
Two new research projects at the Perutz have been awarded funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Led by group leaders Pavel Kovarik and Jonas Ries, the projects explore two very different but equally fundamental aspects of biology: how immune cells in the lungs rapidly adapt to infections and tissue damage, and how proteins move and change shape inside living cells. Together, the two grants provide more than €1.1 million in funding over three years.
FWF ESPRIT fellowship for postdoc Zach Marin to capture subcellular motion
Postdoctoral researcher Zach Marin (Ries lab) has been awarded an FWF ESPRIT Fellowship from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to pursue an innovative microscopy project at the Perutz. Providing funding over three years, Zach’s project ‘Live-Cell Imaging of Clathrin Dynamics at the Nanoscale’ aims to develop faster super-resolution imaging approaches to visualize structural dynamics inside living cells at unprecedented resolution. The ESPRIT Postdoc fellowship supports early career researchers in preparing to establish their own research group in the future.
Rethinking stem cell culture
Studying the earliest stages of human development depends on stem cell models that are both biologically faithful and technically practicable. In a new study published in EMBO Journal, PhD student Michael Oberhuemer (Leeb lab) reports a simpler way to culture human naïve pluripotent stem cells – without relying on mouse feeder cells. By replacing these animal-derived support cells with a serum-based substrate and validating the approach together with multiple European collaborators, the team delivers a scalable and developmentally accurate culture system that lowers the barriers to human stem cell research.
Elif Karagöz leads FWF Emerging Fields research consortium
Perutz group leader Elif Karagöz will coordinate the prestigious FWF Emerging Fields consortium project ‘Translating the Ribosome Code of Pediatric Cancers’. Funded with nearly €6 million by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the initiative brings together researchers from leading Vienna-based institutions, combining expertise that spans basic, translational, and patient-focused research. The collaborative project aims to uncover how ribosomes regulate protein production in childhood cancers and to explore whether this hidden layer of gene regulation can be harnessed to develop novel therapeutic strategies.
The Perutz welcomes new group leader Danny Nedialkova
Danny Nedialkova will launch her lab at the Max Perutz Labs this April. Danny joins the Perutz from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, where she has been leading a research group focused on the ‘Mechanisms of Protein Biogenesis’ since 2017. With her internationally recognized expertise in RNA biology and translation regulation, she strengthens the institute’s research focus on the fundamental mechanisms controlling cellular physiology and their perturbation in disease settings.
License to kill
Cells rely on DNA-mutating enzymes to fight viral infections, yet these same factors can threaten genomic integrity if left unchecked. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the Versteeg lab, led by first authors and former PhD students Irene Schwartz and Valentina Budroni, identify and characterize a previously unknown cellular mechanism that protects cells from their own endogenous mutators, revealing how beneficial antiviral activity is balanced against the risk of cancer-promoting DNA damage.
Neurobiology meets RNA processing
The year 2026 is off to a strong start for Erinc Hallacli, who has secured new funding from the Herzfelder’sche Familienstiftung to pursue an ambitious research project at the interface of neurobiology and RNA metabolism. The grant supports his project ‘Impact of aSyn Fibrils on Human Neuronal RNA Metabolism’, which investigates how pathogenic protein aggregates influence RNA decay in neurons – an underexplored aspect of neurodegenerative disease biology.
Nell Saunders receives EMBO Fellowship
Nell Saunders from the Hein lab has been awarded a prestigious EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship to support her work on innovative CRISPR-based approaches to study viral infections. The fellowship funds up to two years of research, promotes international mobility, and provides access to EMBO’s global network as well as advanced training opportunities. The award highlights the strength of the research environment at the Perutz and its ability to attract and support exceptional postdoctoral researchers from across Europe and beyond.
Ending 2025 with two new FWF grants
Two Perutz group leaders – Gang Dong and Javier Martinez – have secured new Principal Investigator grants from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Their projects will investigate how a parasite evades the immune system, and how the tRNA ligase complex is regulated and degraded. With approximately €6 million in FWF funding awarded to Perutz researchers this year – including €1 million in this call alone – the institute marks one of its most successful funding years to date.
FWF Special Research Program ‘Meiosis‘ extended
The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has approved the prolongation of the Special Research Program (SFB) ‘Meiosis’, coordinated by Perutz Group Leader Verena Jantsch-Plunger, extending the collaborative project from 2026 to 2030. Originally launched in 2022, the SFB brings together nine research groups across Austria and Germany to study the fundamental mechanisms of meiotic recombination and genome haploidization, with a total funding volume of more than €8.8 million across both funding periods. Five labs from the Perutz are involved in the consortium, underscoring the institute’s strong contribution to this interdisciplinary effort.
Jovana Jovanovic secures this year’s 14th PhD Fellowship for the Perutz
The Perutz concludes its 20th anniversary year with another great achievement: Jovana Jovanovic (Ameres lab) is the 14th PhD researcher to receive a major fellowship this year – a new institutional record. Jovana has been awarded the highly competitive Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) PhD Fellowship, which provides up to 3.5 years of funding as well as access to an international network of BIF Fellows. The fellowship recognizes top young scientists with fewer than 10% of roughly 550 applicants selected annually across Europe.
Irene Schwartz wins VBC PhD Award for outstanding research
Irene Schwartz has been awarded the Vienna BioCenter PhD Award for her exceptional doctoral research on how cells maintain immune balance through controlled proteasomal degradation. She is the 22nd Perutz graduate to receive this distinction, following Laura Santini in 2024. Established by former Perutz group leader Renée Schroeder, the prize honors outstanding PhD theses from across the Vienna BioCenter institutes, highlighting the excellence of young scientists in Vienna’s vibrant life sciences community.
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